Selasa, 28 Februari 2012

Japan Planning to Create a Space Elevator in 2050

While the concept of such an elevator has been
described in science fiction novels, the construction has become
possible after the 1991 discovery of carbon nanotube, a lightweight
material more than 20 times stronger than steel, the company said.

Under the plan announced this week, the
company will build an orbital station at an altitude of 36,000 km, a
final destination for space travelers and housing experimental and
development facilities utilizing the space environment.

A six-car elevator, expected to travel at a speed
of 200 kph, will be capable of carrying 30 people and will take about
seven and a half days to arrive at the orbital station.

According to the company, construction work
will start around 2025. A rocket will be launched to transport two
reeled cables using carbon nanotube and other materials to an altitude
of about 300 km, where a space ship will be assembled.

The space ship will unreel the cables toward
Earth, while continue soaring to the summit of 96,000 km, which is about
one-quarter the distance from Earth to the moon, Obayashi said.

Then the cables will be reinforced from the
ground using elevator cars, which will ascend to the summit. The
reinforcement work will be conducted 510 times, the company said.

The elevator will be powered partly by electricity generated by solar power from space, the company said.

The company at present cannot calculate how
much money would be needed to construct the space elevator and there
would be some hurdles, such as where to build it, said Satomi Katsuyama,
leader of the company's space elevator project.

"But we'd like to realize the project, as it will greatly save on costs for space development in the future," she said.